Miss you.. India!

Just came back from India...

I realized that the amount of time I spent laughing in the 14 day trip to India is more than how much I laugh in the entire year ?

Somehow things always seem to hopeful, brighter and jolly in India. May be its because I never worked in India.. and so I am unaware of the "real" life there and its a fairly land for me.

Whatever the reason I cannot wait to go back and laugh some more.

Cricket - India's real religion !

So this is what it feels like to watch history in making first hand !!

Yesterday India beat Sri Lanka in the 2011 Cricket World Cup Finals to capture the title of World Champions. And I got to see it live in action first hand (I am stretching the definition of first hand to include telecast :) ). This was a very proud moment and I speak for all of India. The last time India won I was one year old !!

It was a very exciting experience and at the same time very surreal.

There is this funny thing that I have learnt from my mom (though I can't believe my family is the only one who does what I am about to explain). Suppose I just left the room while India is playing a match and they lost a wicket, after that I am not allowed to leave the room - coz if I do they will lose more wickets, faster. If I am watching and India is not doing great and I leave the room and suddenly the players are hitting fours or sixes I am not allowed to watch the match anymore :-s. Yeah I know, its crazy. But it gets crazier. One time a match was on and my Dad left briefly to change his clothes and when he came back India started losing wickets - so we made Dad go back and change back to the clothes he was wearing earlier, and guess what India held its ground :D.

My logical side knows this is all superstition and is unreasonable and how can my actions alone affect how India chances... but I have not been able to figure out why it works - including this World Cup Final. I had not watched any matches and India was doing well, but how can I not watch the final.. right? As soon as I started following the score, when I woke up, SriLanka picked up its pace and left us a huge score to chase. When I finally started watching the match - India opened poorly. So, I decided that's it and I left the room and went upstairs. India started doing well. Then I was dragged back in the room and I was there for hardly 2 minutes and we lost a wicket - then I was politely asked to leave :-). I came back occasionally - for replays !! When the match became really close in the last ten overs, I came back for a bit, and Dhoni almost got run out. I was sent back again. Finally, I watched the last 3-4 overs when it was almost sure that India is going to win. Now that is too much of a coincidence, don't you agree :).

I don't go to a temple, and I am not superstitious except for when it comes to Cricket. Therefore, like many other Indians Cricket is my real religion :)

Life is Game Theory

It's been a while since I blogged. So many times I thought I will blog about this or that and just never got enough motivation to blog.

Apparently, game theory is my motivation. This is my last semester in the part-time MBA program and I graduate in June.... Yayyy!! Oh... I cannot wait :D !! Anyways, coming back to the point, I am going to take a course on game theory. I was first introduced to game theory, briefly, in my undergraduate and then in much more detail when I was in graduate school (before my MBA). But until my first MBA class in Game Theory I did not realize really how much fun it can be. Earlier, I thought game theory is very boring, like this definition from Answers.com "A mathematical method of decision-making in which a competitive situation is analyzed to determine the optimal course of action for an." Boooooooooooring !!

But my latest introduction to game theory was something like this... "Game theory is an excellent tool to increase your chances of converting an internship into a permanent job or to get the outcome 'you' want when dating. Infact game theory enables one to interact in a way that the probability of a decision being made in your favor increases." Brilliant !!!

Though, I believe we all have been using game theory knowingly or unknowingly all our lives, right from our childhood, when we acted in a way that we knew will result in our parents buying us new clothes or toys! Now I just have a better word for "manipulation" :P

I am really looking forward to class. For those who don't know about game theory and want to learn more can start here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory

Life is Good

In a week, how many times do we ponder over all the things that are going wrong in our life or not going the way we want? I am sure the answer for most of us is atleast once. Now, how many times do we think about all the things that have gone right in our lives ?

If you answer yes to these questions below, then in my opinion your life is good.

1. Do you have a loving family ?
2. Do you have friends ?
3. Do I have good food to eat ?
4. Do I have roof over my head ?
5. Do I have time to enjoy myself with my family and friends ?

Beyond these anything that you think you need, is really things you _want_. And once in a while its good to look back and wonder do I really _need_ these things. Do I really want that new dress from Anthropology? Do I really want that diamond necklace? If you believe the answer is yes, have you considered how long has any of these objects brought real joy? Compare it to how long has the joy lasted for after seeing a dear friend or family member that you haven't seen in a while.

I know this post is a complete shift from all my other posts. Last two weeks I have been on road trips with my husband to see friends and family and now that I am back, I realize how much fun it was and what a lasting impact will it have on me :).

This attests to the fact how rarely do I look back and see what really brings joy in my life and what is that I really cherish. And I hope that this post makes my readers do the same. Good food and good company can be never replaced by a new dress or that diamond necklace !

p.s: I did buy some jewelry on these road trips... but let me tell you what I cherish the most is not it !

Yummy Chocolate Mousse

Summer term is over and I have a few weeks to enjoy without guilt. So I am making the most of it. Catching up on movies, tv shows, visiting bffs etc. etc. :D. My latest hobby, believe it or not, is cooking. I have been cooking elaborate dishes once in a while with hubby dearest to take my mind of the school, work and stock market craziness. Also, I am watching all these chef shows like Top Chef, Hell's Kitchen, Master Chef that have further encouraged me to cook.

So this week I am on desserts. Yesterday I made chocolate mousse. The inspiration came from the winning dish in one of the Master Chef's challenges. This female made this gorgeous looking mousse and I decided I will make one myself. Now I have never ever made mousse before, so it was exciting and above all it was easy.

I used the slightly modified Julia Child's recipe by David Lebovitz (btw... I have no idea who this is) http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2008/05/perfect-chocola/. I would highly recommend this recipe as its very simple and doesn't require too many crazy ingredients :). Follow the recipe closely and it will you will be good to go.

A few things to keep in mind, it does involve a lot of whipping. But it is a great way to exercise those arm flabs ;). The other thing a beginner or first time mousse maker should do is watch some youtube videos on how to "fold" the mixture. It is extremely important that you "fold" the mixture rather than just mix it conventionally, as the folding is what gives it the volume otherwise your mousse will be hard chocolate :). The video I watched was this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqDa7sdEcGs, but I am sure there are plenty videos out there.

Here is my beautiful and extremely yummyyy chocolate mousse :D

My Top Three Fictional Couples

Recently, I have been watching a new detective series and the on and off couple in this series made to my top three favorite fictional couples. The series is Veronica Mars and couple is Logan & Veronica popularly nicknamed as LoVe (cute eh!). And this couple cropping up on the top of my list is the inspiration for this blog. So for the curious ones my top three favorites are:

1. Edward and Bella from Twilight (Suprise!!!) - For the ignorant who don't know about Twilight series, there are always exceptions, it is a novel about vampires. Edward is the vampire and Bella is a normal high school girl and the two of them are in looooooooooooove. What draws me to this couple is how crazy Bella is for Edward and how protective Edward is for Bella. And how the whole world wants them apart. If this sounds crazy, please read the novel :).

2. Logan and Veronica from Veronica Mars (yes they made to number 2 after season 1 :D) - Veronica is the daughter of a private investigator and solves high school mysteries on the side. Logan is a son of a big actor whose now dead gf was the best friend of Veronica. Its one of those stories - boy hate girl, boy always bugs girl, boy needs help, girl helps, boy falls in love with the girl and vice versa and then things go wrong. But its not the story but the chemistry between these two characters that just draws you to it. And you want to see episode after episode to see what happens between the two of them and not for the unraveling of the mysteries.

3. Raj and Sonia from Kaho na Pyaar hai (ofcourse how can my list be complete with Hrithik eh :)) - For this one the credit goes to Hrithik Roshan. I think if this character was played by any other actor it would not be in my top 3. But what draws me to this one is Raj's unconditional love for Sonia and him going out of the way to protect Sonia even when he expected his love to be not reciprocated.

So there you go, another one of my girly girl blog after sometime.

Rain Rain Come Again

Last month it was raining a lot and I was finding myself without a raincoat on several occasions and had to do with a snow coat in June !! So finally I bought myself a nice raincoat, I had never believed I will buy a 150 dollar raincoat, but I did. Yes, it was an impulse buy :)

Of course, ever since I bought the raincoat the rain kinda vanished. So finally today it rained and it rained cats & dogs !! And I didn't have my raincoat with me... so I decided I will go home and test my super expensive raincoat. So I drove home in a thunderstorm!!! Well, I am not completely crazy, I had a good reason to go home - I had to take care of Clover - but I will understand if one still thinks I am crazy :).

I got home, got my raincoat on and played with the doggie in the backyard! I love my raincoat it was awesome !! I am happy !